Tuesday, November 23, 2010

A windy blizzard was predicted to hit Salt Lake City today. The region prepared itself. Schools closed early. Events were canceled. People stocked up on provisions for the next few days and into the holiday.

And yes, the storm was bad in some parts of the area. Just not on our side of town.

I'm typing this after looking out the window and seeing about a half-inch of snow. The wind has died down. All is calm. All is bright.

We got more snow with a little event over the weekend. And to think, I went to the store to get food to prepare for the next few days. I filled up the gas tank in the Outback. I went to Blockbuster for entertainment for our shut-in forecast.

It wasn't all for naught. The temperature is supposed to drop to un-November temperatures. I'm signed up for a 5K on Thanksgiving morning; I don't think I'm going to run it if the temperature is in single digits. Even my ex-boxer track coach in high school would keep us inside if it dipped below 15.

Maybe I shouldn't taunt the weather. Lake effect snow is predicted tomorrow, and sometimes here, the lake effect snow shoots far into the valley along a narrow path. But for now, this is the Y2K of storms -- all hype, plenty of preparation, and an unimpressive result.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Today (well, Nov. 6, I'm writing this after midnight) was my 40th birthday. A friend suggested I needed to blog this day. I think I need to blog every day, but for now, I will get my 40th.

I coached two soccer games today, which a parent of the one of the players said typifies the fact I'm 40. Both teams played well, and both teams sang "Happy Birthday" to me afterward. We went to a after-season (this was the last game of the fall season for both teams) party for Littlest's team, then dropped Eldest off at a birthday party and went home. I managed a little nap and watched some football. As a family, we went to Chili's for dinner, then took a short drive to the top of the bench (the neighborhood in the foothills above the city) for a quick, pretty dusk view of the valley. We came home, relaxed for a while, the boys went to bed, I got sucked into watching "Death Proof," and I've been on the computer since.

Yes, it's not the most exciting 40th birthday, but it was nice. Combined with Wife and I going out last night and my Mexico trip last month, I think my journey into my fifth decade was eventful. One other thing: This was the nicest weather I've ever had on my birthday. It was high 60s today and sunny enough. Usually, my birthday is cold, gray, rainy or snowy, and dark far too early. When I have a miserable Nov. 6 in the future, I can look to this one and remember how nice it was when I turned 40.